Miyajima

I'm feeling diligent so...

Following the two days in Kyoto and preceding the Hiroshima excursion here is the write-up for Miyajima Island. We arrived early into Hiroshima and checked-in at the hotel. We were given some maps and a free tram pass, which was a nice touch. The next two days in Hiroshima took some scheduling. As much as I wanted to see the A Bomb Dome, we only had one night here and so we spent the first day on Miyajima, which was said to be worth seeing after dark.

The tram took us through the commercial area of Hiroshima, much like any shopping centre, and onto the outskirts and finally the docks. We jumped on a ferry which shuttled us towards Miyajima. This island is one of the three scenic views of Japan, another being the islands in Matsushima (near Keiko's house) and the third is Amanohashidate in west Japan and appears to be quite beautiful. And so it should when it translates as "Bridge of Heaven". To find out how to view the sand bridge, it's worth following the link!

Miyajima - "Shrine Island" - is famous for the deer that roam the island freely, as well as the monkeys on top of Mt Misen, the highest point. The other tourist-pulling device is Itsukushima Shrine and the red 'torii' gate.


The deer were mischievous.


Walking from the harbour to the gate, the tide was out and we could see many people bent over on the wet sand doing something. Up closer, they were cockling!


We could walk all the way out to the gate (I'd checked the low and high tide times and hoped that we would be able to see both before the last boat); it was impressive, not least for withstanding the tide. The structure was so wide.


The shrine was also picturesque, raised on stilts, and we even saw a traditional wedding.


That was about as much as I knew of Miyajima and I was dreading hanging around until dark to see the high tide. Fortunately, the island offered a great deal more. I didn't realise it was so enormous.


We took the path up past the small village towards a hiking trail and the cable car. The signs explained how far it was; we took the leisurely option!


The first cable car took us upwards onto a peak, with signs advising us to be aware of the monkeys. A short walk around the path was a second ropeway which took us onto Mt Misen, at 530 metres.

The rest of the decent walk was past a few temples and some passes formed by boulders towards the summit.


The view was absolutely incredible, a 360 panorama of Hiroshima, other islands, and the Seto Inland Sea - between Honshu and Shikoku. My fault entirely that I didn't know any of this existed (research, people, research!), we didn't have much time to take in the sights as we were worried about missing the last times down to the base of the island.


Unfortunately, no monkeys except these two:


From this height, it was easy to imagine on a clear day why Miyajima was named one of the three scenic spots in Japan.


The sun was slowly setting although we had a bit of time to kill and stumbled upon this treasure. Hard to believe but it's not listed in guidebooks as a reason to visit Miyajima, it is in fact "The Largest Rice Scoop In The World"! I know, stop and compose yourselves. Truly something, hey. Made from 300 year old Zelkova tree and 7.7 metres long and weighing 2.5 tonnes. According to the sign, it has been placed here to symbolise Miyajima as the birthplace of the rice scoop, as well as celebrating the Shrine becoming a World Heritage Sight.


If anything, it's good for a question on Eggheads one day.

Hungry, we found a small restaurant and we were the only customers the woman had. We sat at a counter in front of a surface metal plate, on which she cooked everything before our eyes. Keith opted for ramen, and Mum and I had a Hiroshima delicacy 'okonomiyaki' - basically a pancake with everything.


I had a limited conversation with her whilst she cooked, but more than anything we enjoyed watching the size of these pancakes grow by the minute. Layers of egg, noodles, pancake mixture, vegetables, until they were as big as the plates. It was an impressive skill and she seemed laid back whereas I would've been stressed keeping on top of it and trying to flip the pancakes. They were only about four pounds each as well!

When we left the restaurant it was dark. We turned a corner to see this:


The tide was in and the gate was illuminated. It was spectacular.


We took some pictures and then a ferry back to the mainland and onto the hotel. I should mention the hotel was fine, except for a bizarre feature: the radio station which only played the Rocky theme tune back to back. We listened the next morning whilst we prepared for Hiroshima and felt all energetic, until the music died down and started straight back up again. Even more strangely, we listened a few times! Some other bloggers have mentioned this mysterious station but I've never found out where or why it's broadcast.

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The next day was Hiroshima, which I've written about. Afterwards, we took a shinkansen back to Tokyo, stopping for Mum and Keith's final night at Shin Yokohama's Ramen Museum; a brilliant end to a brilliant trip.

Kyoto - Back To The Past

Some of you may have been on tenterhooks ever since I wrote the first half of Kyoto back in June 2007, anxiously awaiting how the snow scuppered our plans. Most of you would have completely forgotten. Here is the much anticipated second part. Follow this link for the first entry.

After the not-so-great sleep (the air-con oven and the motorbike convention) we pulled back the curtains to find snow. Or, as this picture suggests, a slightly blurry and white-splattered building.


Downstairs to the Starbucks - keeping with the Geisha and Samurai theme of course - as we waited for the snow to wear off. We took a bus back to the station to transfer onto a temple I was interested in but, as it was a Sunday, the frequencies were not as often so we had a change of plan and went straight to the castle.


Nijo-jo was completed in 1603 (after three generations consecutively waited for it) and it includes the main Palace Building, an outer architecture and a typical Japanese garden. The most impressive aspect were the randomly placed creaking floorboards; a deliberate design rather than a fault to listen out for intruders.


We walked north-west past Kitano Tenmangu, a shrine which is famous for students to pray for success in their studies, as well as for its plum blossom.


Behind this stood Hirano Shrine, established in 794.


We even met a friend from home:


Further along the path was one of the most famous sites, and the one we were aiming for. Kinkakuji Temple is the Golden Pavilion, was built in 1397 by the shogun Yoshimitsu and it is covered in gold leaf standing proudly overlooking the lake.


It was beautiful and the only downside is that - as with most of the buildings in Japan - it is not the original structure; having been burnt down by an apparently "fanatic monk" in 1950.


The next stop, only a short walk, is a bit controversial. A required taste, some might say. Ryoanji has a rock garden formed of rocks, moss and gravelled sand. A wooden raised platform stretches across and it is lined with tourists staring at the pattern and determining their own interrpetations. An interesting aspect was that unless you look at the layout from a bird's eye view, only 14 of the 15 rocks can be seen at any one time. It is said that only by enlightenment can all 15 be visible (although... there is one spot if you look from the far right about 8 feet back, but that's cheating!) I could've stayed for a while, but Mum and Keith had made their own interpretations quite quickly.


This is a small scale version to see the position of all the rocks (like you care!):


Kyoto is a fascinating city, with a grid structure in the middle and the mountains around it forcing the road design to twist and turn. There are too many temples to mention and, not that we were templed out, but like the Rome-factor, every turn of a corner has something new to offer and it was too overwhelming trying to see and read about everything. So here are a few other pictures of places along the way.


On the other hand, you can't help but be awed by the deep history and the architecture here. Until you stumble across this garden, and all that culture goes out the window. Phallic and other sexual statues were literally everywhere.
Flashback to the penis festival; this I assume is a place to pray for fertility and, funnily enough, is not shown on any of the guide maps! If anyone has an idea what it is named, or its purpose, I'd be interested.


It gave us a good laugh anyway!

We walked farther outside of the city until we were in the fields and the temples were few and far between. Luckily we found a bus stop which took us to the final area of the day. By now, the snow had long stopped and the sun was occassionally breaking through the clouds.

Arashiyama is a touristy and resident getaway area on the west bank of Kyoto, with Mt Arashiyama behind it, the river running through and the central focal point of the Togetsukyo Bridge. In the summer I'm sure it's great for picnics and frisbees. Mum and Keith even made a friend!


Tired from all the walking and, as if a blessing, the little shopping district was also home to a streetcar terminal station which cut right through Kyoto and back to our hotel. I couldn't have planned it better myself.

An extra day would've been plenty to see the remaining few sights but I was more than happy with what we fit into the two days. The highlight for me was Sanjusangendo, the temple with the thousands of statues in rows, for Keith I think the castle with the creaking floorboards (although I may be wrong) and for Mum, well...


The next morning, we set off early for a shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima...